Special to The Eagle
OMAHA, Neb. -- Momentum swung swiftly toward Texas A&M in the top half of the first inning Sunday. Just as quickly, though, it turned in favor of the defending national champions, South Carolina.
"We made some mistakes, just like they did in the top of the first and here comes South Carolina right back to it," said A&M coach Rob Childress. "And it turns into an eight inning game after the bottom of one."
South Carolina was hyped as the experienced squad yearning for a repeat, Texas A&M as the scrappy dark horse playing the best baseball of its season. Both teams relied on strong pitching, timely hitting and minimal mistakes to book their tickets to the pinnacle of collegiate baseball. But when the two squads stepped in front of a jam-packed TD Ameritrade Park for the first time, the jitters were evident.
"The game couldn't have started any better for us," Childress said. "It felt like we were going to roll and just like that, the nerves got to us a little bit."
In the game's first 30 minutes, the two teams combined for two errors, three walks, six unearned runs and one sloppy inning of College World Series baseball.
The pitchers' struggles in the first inning weren't surprising under the bright lights of college baseball's biggest stage.
"Going into the first inning tonight," South Carolina coach Ray Tanner said, "I have to admit that I had been paying attention to the other games and the other pitchers. It appeared that all four games, to begin the College World Series, every pitcher seemed to scuffle a little bit in the first inning."
The Aggies used a careless error from first baseman Chirstian Walker, control issues from USC staff-ace Brandon Roth, and a three-RBI triple from Brandon Wood to shell the defending champs with a four-spot in the top of the first -- all of which were unearned.
"Coach told me in batting practice I was going to hit a triple opposite field," Wood said, "and he was right."
With the way third-team All-American Ross Stripling had been throwing the baseball, it presented a sizable mountain to climb for the Gamecocks. But in a matter of minutes, the Gamecocks showed their mettle in scaling that mountain. And the Aggies provided the necessary assistance for them to do so.
"It wasn't just the guys on the mound that were a little bit anxious," Childress said.
A Stripling balk -- his first of the season -- with the bases loaded allowed the first South Carolina runner to score. An Andrew Collazo throwing error scored two more. And after a Peter Mooney single through the right side, the optimism generated in the top of the first was deemed irrelevant as the game was deadlocked going into the second.
"I just wanted to come out and throw strikes and deal with my nerves," Stripling said. " I just wasn't quite ready for it."
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